World Reminiscences

According to the Abrahamic faiths, yes all of them, when God created the heavens and the earth and the creatures of the field, He then created man and put him in the garden of Eden with one sole caveat which I shan’t bother to repeat. Adam, as we all (with the possible exception of Richard Dawkins) know, just couldn’t do as he was told and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, thereby tainting all of us, forever. Some say that the tasty, irresistible fruit lumbered us with self-awareness, shame, excuses and rationalisations. In Nigeria, we call this “speaking grammar”. More correctly, “speaking too much grammar”. Grammar may alternatively be referred to as “speaking English” or “speaking too much English”. Monkeys, on the other hand, didn’t have this problem. I dare say it wasn’t because they were better behaved, or more disciplined than Adam, more likely it was just because God hadn’t imposed the forbidden-fruit constraint on them. Therefore monkeys don’t suffer from “speaking...

. Monu wasn't your typical gardener, he didn't tend to flowers and flora, what he sought and tended to, were roots; human roots. This beautiful soul passed last year and it took me this long to catch up with the news of his passing. My heart aches for the beautiful family he left behind and his wisdom of the ages that we'll so sorely miss. He was my friend and my brother. He died gilding and even so, l know he made the beautiful skies of Southern France his launching pad to God's place. I stumbled on Monu’s blog (www.ogbe.com) in my search for more information about his death. Monu and l, attended preschool together and l remember, quite vividly, the last time l saw him was when he breezed into town on a Yamaha 1000 Z to visit with his cousins. This was way back in 1979, and Monu was a sight to behold on that bike! Monu had ridden his bike all the way from Germany, across the Sahara unaccompanied. I remember how crazy everyone thought he was to have embarked on...